Freight car appliances



Dec. 15, 1 936. E R 2,064,405

' FREIGHT CAR APPLIANCE Filed June 24, 1933 J 12 12 I] l 4A 1712 14 %j 1 I J 15 z HiZ ATTORN EY Patented Dec. 15, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to freight car appliances andhas for its main object and feature the production of a device for controlling the opening movement of the hopper door of a hopper-car.

In the accompanying drawing the invention is disclosed in a concrete and preferred form in which Fig. 1 is a View in side elevation of a freight car with my appliance in position;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the appliance showing it in position between the two hoppers; and

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view substantially on the plane of line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Railroad cars of the hopper type are usually provided with two hoppers on the underside for the discharge of coal or other material.

'drawing'these two hoppers are indicated at I!) and Il. At least one of the inclined sides of each hopper constitutes a hinged door I2 through which the material is discharged, and the problem here involved is to control the extent of opening of the hopper door.

In the form of the invention here disclosed,

' the device is constructed as follows: a support is provided composed of two members i3 and 14 that are in telescoping relation, and carried at each end of the device is a head IE or it having a self-adjusting mounting here conveniently shown as a ball and socket joint H. One or more abutment members [8 and 19 may be employed which may take the form of sleeves that can be adjusted lengthwise of member l3 and clamped in position by bolts 29.

It will now be understood that the device can be placed between opposed surfaces of adjacent hoppers, at least one of which surfaces is a door, and that the heads can be adjusted to such angular position as to cause their bearing members 22 to lie substantially parallel to said surfaces. Usually these surfaces are provided with projections as 21 on which bearing members 22 of the heads may rest, or they may be permanently attached to the surfaces. Abutment member 18 is now adjusted so as to be a certain distance away from the end of member I3. Thereafter the door of one of the hoppers is released, and the weight of the material in the car causes the door to swing open. In so doing the door will change its angular position, and the head that engages said door will adjust In the itself to a corresponding position. Also member I3 or M will yield until abutment member I8 strikes the end of l3 thereby permitting the hopper door to open a given distance, but preventing opening movement thereof beyond said distance. If it is now desired to increase the opening movement of the door, the bolt that locks abutment member [8 in position may be slightly released so as to permit a sliding movement, with frictional resistance, of the parts to take place, after which the bolt of I8 is again tightened. Or abutment member l9 can be adjusted on M and secured in position, after which the bolt of [8 can be released thereby allowing It to slide through I8 until I8 and I9 come in contact. If both opposed surfaces of adjacent hoppers are doors, the doors may be sequentially or simultaneously opened as each head of the appliance is self-adjusting independently of the other. It will further be understood that instead of placing the appliance between opposed surfaces of adjacent hoppers, it may be placed with one head against the hopper door and with its other end against a railroad tie.

I claim:

1. The combination with the opposed hopper doors of a hopper car; of an extensible support reaching from door to door, the support being in its extended position when the doors are closed and moving into a withdrawn position under the influence of the weight of the door when either or both of said doors are opened; a selfadjusting mounting on said support to respond to various angular positions of the doors; and means to limit the extent of withdrawal of said support.

2. The combination with two opposed surfaces, at least one of which is a hopper door, that opens by gravity, of a hopper car; of a detachable extensible support for the door abutting against and reaching from surface to surface, the support being in its extended position when the door is closed and moving into a withdrawn position under the influence of the weight of the door when the latter is opened; a self-adjusting mounting at each end of said support to respond to various angular positions of the surfaces; and means to limit the withdrawal of said support.

EDGAR BENATAR. 

